Island Getaway
by fananicfan
Summary: The title says it all, but you can read the usual author's notes at the beginning for time line, etc.  Hope you enjoy it.


Disclaimer: JAG and its characters are the property of Belisarius Productions, CBS and Paramount. No copyright infringement intended.

This story gives an alternate path for the series after Mac's car accident in the episode "The 4 Percent Solution".

**Island Getaway **

**by: fananicfan**

**WEDNESDAY**

Harm had put it off as long as he could, but if she was going to be able to get off this Friday in order to extend the already three-day weekend due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, he could wait no longer to ask her if she was feeling up to going on a short vacation.

Harm rapped on the door frame of her office the way he'd done so many times before, but this time, his palms were sweaty. He was nervous about asking her to go away with him.

He wasn't asking her to go away for a romantic weekend. He was just offering to take her to a warmer climate to get away for some fun in the sun.

There was no reason to be nervous, he thought before quickly dismissing the butterflies that had started to flutter inside his stomach.

"Hey, Harm, did you need something?" He heard her ask, bringing him out of his fear induced haze and wondering how long he'd been standing there unresponsive.

"I don't really need anything. I was just wondering if you're feeling better."

Harm had been asking her how she was feeling every day since her car accident before Christmas, but once the bruise on her face had begun to fade, he'd slowed to every other day. Once the purple hue had been completely gone, he'd stopped asking her, presumably because he could see that she was better.

'Why out of the blue like this is he asking again? What's different about today?' she wondered before responding to him.

"My bruises are gone and I'm feeling better than I have in a while," she said, answering his question completely before asking him, "Why?"

"I was just thinking that, if you felt up to it, we could - " That wasn't sounding right to him. "What do you think about taking Friday off and coming on my little trip with me?"

"Harm, I appreciate the offer. The idea of a being in a tropical climate when I had to brush three inches of fresh snow off my car this morning sounds delightful, but you planned this trip weeks ago, and I don't want to cramp your style. You go on to your island getaway and have a good time. I'll be fine."

"You won't be cramping my style. I planned this trip so that I could get away from my everyday life, get some rest and relax, perhaps gain a new perspective on a few things, but I won't be able to do that if I'm worried about you. If you're with me, then I won't have a reason to worry. So, please come with me."

"Considering how nice you've been to me lately ... if sunning myself on an island will make you feel better, how could I possibly say no?" she said. Just the thought of the sun on her skin was making her feel warmer.

"I have reservations to leave on Friday. Hopefully, Cresswell will give you Friday off so that you can leave with me. If not, I'll book a flight for you for Saturday morning," Harm said with a full flyboy smile.

**THAT SATURDAY**

Mac had gotten Friday off, and they'd arrived last night in time for dinner, after which Harm had walked her to her room door and told her to enjoy her evening.

She'd enjoyed a warm bath and gone to bed early with a book that she'd been trying to finish for at least two weeks, but always seemed to have to put it aside to work on a case.

She was sleeping soundly until she was awakened by the ringing of the phone by her big comfortable bed.

"Hello," she said sleepily into the receiver.

"Hey, Mac, sorry to wake you, but I wanted to call to ask you if you wanted me to leave you here at the hotel or do you feel up to a little adventure?"

"What kind of adventure?" she asked, slightly intrigued.

"There's a nearby island that's uninhabited and is said to have pirates' loot hidden on it somewhere, but the locals tell me that, even if you don't find any treasure, it's a beautiful place, and to see the waterfall there is worth the hike to it."

"My answer depends on you. If we find treasure, how do you propose that we split it?"

"Fifty-fifty."

"Seventy-thirty," Mac countered, the thrill of negotiating a deal with Harm causing her to wake fully.

"It's generous of you to offer me more, but we're partners, so I think that splitting it down the middle is fair."

"Oh, I wasn't offering you more. I think that I should have seventy percent. You get the thirty."

"How's that fair? I'm the one who invited you to come with me. You didn't even know about it," Harm said with a slight trace of a whine in his voice.

"True, maybe sixty-forty, then," Mac counter-offered, trying to hold in a chuckle. He was such an easy target.

Catching the lilt in her voice that suggested that she was about to laugh, Harm knew that she was toying with him, something that he wouldn't mind so much if he could see her eyes dance the way that they did when she thought that she had him on the ropes.

"How about we negotiate over breakfast?" he asked.

Mac was unable to see the mischievous gleam in his eye that was put there because, despite her protests, he knew that his smile did have some affect on her and that, face-to-face, he'd have a better shot at getting her to agree to an equal split.

Of course, seeing her in person could work against him, as well. If she wore something low cut and fitted for instance, he'd be unable to hold his ground and would probably agree to give her a hundred percent of the treasure.

"Breakfast with you? ... I don't know. ... Who's buying?" Mac questioned coyly in a voice akin to a purr.

Her playful and sexy tone had him responding without a second's thought, "Me."

"Then you're on. Do you want to come by my room or do you want me to meet you in the lobby?" Mac said enthusiastically.

"I'll swing by your room."

"Okay, give me a few minutes to get dressed," Mac said before hanging up the phone.

Moments later, she was debating what she wanted to wear, especially since she hadn't asked him if they would be leaving for the other island right after breakfast.

They were in the Bahamas, so you couldn't go wrong with a swimsuit, she thought, but a bikini wasn't proper breakfast attire, so she wore the bikini, but covered it with a summery skirt and tank top.

She was slipping her feet into her wedge style sandals when Harm knocked on her door.

"Just a second," Mac called out, finishing the task of putting on her shoes before moving to open the door.

Harm stood there looking rested and relaxed in a t-shirt, shorts - no, on second thought she thought they were swim trunks - and flip flops.

His casual dress suggested to her that what she'd chosen to wear was fine, but she wanted to be sure.

"Is this going to be okay for me to wear or should I change into something else?"

"Mac, you're in the islands. You could wear a bikini to breakfast and no one would think anything of it," Harm replied.

"Well, then, I'm glad that I have it on underneath my skirt and top. If I feel overdressed, I'll just strip off my outer clothing," she said, turning to get her bag for a day out and didn't see the look on Harm's face, nor did she see him trying to find the outline of her two-piece suit under her clothing to get an accurate gauge on how much of her skin he'd be seeing on the beach.

**ON THE BOAT**

**AFTER BREAKFAST**

With their bellies full, they'd boarded a motorboat, and Harm aimed it in the direction of the island that he'd said that they were going to explore.

As Mac sat behind Harm, watching him steer the boat towards their destination, her eyes kept moving from the ocean view to Harm's backside and then back to the ocean.

Her eyes found their way back and settled onto Harm's six once again. A smile crept onto her face. The view of the water was good, but the one of this backside was better. She even found the fact that he had his ball cap on backwards to be cute.

She'd always been attracted to him, but in the weeks since her accident, she'd come to realize that part of what she'd recalled in the ambulance was about how much she cared for him.

She sighed barely audibly, certainly not loud enough to be heard over the boat's motor.

How many times had she thought that her future was with him only to have her hopes dashed by something, or in some cases, someone? If only she could change the past, maybe things would be different between them.

"You're awfully quiet back there. You aren't plotting my demise so that you don't have to give me my cut of the treasure, are you?" Harm questioned, forcing her from her thoughts.

"No, I wouldn't hurt you." Once the words were out of her mouth, she regretted saying them. There were certainly examples that he could give of when she had, but, for that matter, she could counter with times when he'd hurt her, too.

She rephrased, "I'd never intentionally hurt you."

Harm was driving the boat and hadn't seen the pain on her face as the realization that they'd hurt each other took over her features.

"That's good to hear," he said with a laugh.

"See that spot in the water ahead on our port side?" he asked as he pointed off into the distance.

She got to her feet and followed an invisible line from his fingertip out across the ocean's surface to their left until she saw the 'spot' to which he was referring.

"Yeah, I see it."

"That's our destination," he informed her as he opened up the throttle, moving them towards the island at a much faster rate of speed.

**MINUTES LATER**

"A dock doesn't say uninhabited, Harm," Mac stated as Harm threw a line onto the short dock at their destination.

"I said uninhabited, not uncharted. It's a privately owned island and, to make it easier to visit here, they've built a dock and a shelter away from the beach. It isn't a fancy place, but it does provide some shelter from the rain if it happens while you're here."

"You've been here before. You know that there's no treasure here," she said, swatting his arm. "That's why you didn't put up more of a fight over breakfast and agreed to a sixty-forty split."

"Yes, I've been here before, and though I've never seen any sign of treasure, that doesn't mean that there isn't one on the island somewhere. Maybe I've just never looked in the right place," Harm said, stepping out of his shoes. He'd found that stepping out of a boat with flip-flops on added a layer of potential disaster that he didn't want to take. He felt more confidant that he wouldn't lose his footing if he was barefoot.

While Harm tied up the boat, Mac took off her shoes and placed them in her bag.

After securing the boat, Harm offered his hand to Mac, and though she was still pouting a little to make him feel badly for withholding the fact that this wasn't the first time that he'd been here, she knew that having a hand up would make her transition from the boat to the dock an easier and safer task, so she took his hand.

**ON THE BEACH **

After they'd disembarked, they walked off the dock and onto the sandy shore.

"How often do you come here?" Mac asked, slipping her arm around his.

"Not often. When I need some downtime and a place to clear my head, I go to one of two places, and when I'm not in the mood to hear unsolicited advice, I skip going to my grandmother's farm and come here."

"So, why did you need to come down here this time?" Mac asked.

Harm stopped and leaned down, pulling his arm from Mac's hold to pick up a shell from the sandy shore.

"I'm sorry. That may have sounded like I was setting you up to give you a lecture or advice. It's none of my business. I'm sorry."

Harm stood up straight with the small shell in his hand.

"I came to throw away some of my troubles," he began. "I pick up a shell and label it...for instance, this one is the Winchell case that I lost last week. Then I toss it."

Harm pulled back and pitched the shell out into the ocean.

The shell dropped from the air and into the water.

"Once the problem hits the water, it's gone, and it's kind of symbolic in the fact that, in the vastness of the ocean, or life, my problem is small."

After several moments of silence, Harm said, "Stupid, isn't it?"

"Not at all ... not if it works or at least helps you to accept things that have happened."

Mac bent over and picked up a shell.

"This one is ... " She hesitated.

"You don't have to say it out loud. Just give it a name and throw it," Harm offered.

"It isn't that I don't want to say it in front of you. It's just that there are so many things to choose from. My life has been pretty screwed up since I agreed to be Webb's pregnant wife on that mission."

Mac inhaled deeply.

"This one is the Paraguay mission," she said before throwing the seashell as hard as she could out over the ocean.

Harm picked up another shell.

"I'll have to second that. This one is my trip to Paraguay," he said before tossing it.

Mac picked up another shell.

"I did what I had to do, and I don't need to carry it around any more. This one is Sadik."

Harm picked up another shell and said, "This one is my feelings about Mattie going back to her father. It's the best thing for her, and I need to let go of how I feel about losing her."

After Harm had thrown that shell, Mac said, "You know that you haven't really lost her, don't you? She loves you, and her living with her father isn't going to change that."

"I know -"

"That would probably be considered unsolicited advice. Please pretend like I didn't say anything," Mac said apologetically, cutting Harm off.

Mac had picked up another shell and started to label it. "This one is -"

"Maybe we shouldn't say what they are. It'll keep us from giving the other advice," Harm suggested.

"Good point," she said as she pulled back to let the shell fly, thinking to herself, 'This one is Webb and the year of my life that I wasted with him.'

Harm and Mac spent ten more minutes throwing 'their problems' into the ocean.

"You up to showing me around this island now?" Mac asked, surprised at how good she felt after performing this symbolic act of tossing the problems of her past away.

"Sure, you'll love the waterfall. Let's head there first, and then we can check out a few caves and stop at the pool at the bottom of the falls on our way back down to the beach."

**AT THE POOL**

**HOURS LATER**

"The water is always warm. Are you feeling up to a swim?" he asked as they reached the rocks surrounding the pool of water at the base of the waterfall.

"Sure am. Last one in the water buys dinner," Mac said, reaching for the hem of her top.

Harm placed his ball cap on top of a rock before reaching for the bottom of his t-shirt.

Distracted by Mac's ample breasts filling her yellow bikini top when she'd rid herself of her shirt, she was out of her skirt and on her way to the water, giggling as she said teasingly, "You're buying me dinner, and I'm feeling like a nice, big, juicy, expensive steak tonight."

Quickly, as he rid himself of his tee-shirt, he said as he sprinted towards her, "Don't declare victory so fast there, MacKenzie."

He reached her, wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground, keeping her from stepping into the water.

"My feet are in the water before yours. I win. So, you're buying _me_ dinner," Harm said with a devilish grin.

"Am not! You cheated!"

"I didn't cheat. I outsmarted you," he said, easing his hold on her to let her go. However, instead of her feet merely touching the ground below the surface of the shallow water at the edge of the pool, her body slid down his, and it sent waves of heat through him.

He quickly stepped farther into the pool until he reached a deeper area where the waterline was above his waist in order to cover the effect that the brief physical contact with her had had on him.

Mac hadn't noticed him making a hasty retreat because she was feeling a little flushed and disoriented at the contact as well and had to repeat to herself that it was accidental contact, not intentional. It wasn't a sign that he wanted her.

It took both of them several minutes to recover, but soon they were talking about their hike to the top of the falls and the caves that they'd checked out, bringing about the 'what if we found treasure' conversation.

"If we found treasure, enough to make both of us rich, what would you do with your share of the money?" Mac asked.

"I'd buy the island and retire," he said with a smile that reached his eyes.

"What would you do with your share?" he asked Mac.

"Well, if you'd already bought the island ... " Her voice trailed off because the truth was that she didn't know what she'd want to do with the money.

"I'd share. We could go sixty-forty on the purchase price of the island," Harm offered, teasing her about the unequal split that he'd agreed to if they'd found something.

Mac hadn't heard him because she'd been giving thought to what she'd _really_ do with her money.

"I'd use the money to get the best fertility specialist around so that I could have a baby," she said softly, but Harm heard her.

"Are you ready to have a baby now?" Harm asked, wondering, if she was, if it meant that she'd be holding him to their deal.

"I don't know if I'm ready yet, but I think that, if the rest of the weekend goes as well as it has today, I'm closer than I've been in the past," she commented with a shy smile.

"I meant what I said. In the future, if you want to have a baby ..." He paused, though it was true that he wanted to father her baby, there was so much more to it than that, and he didn't want to make it sound as if he was offering to be only a sperm donor.

"...your offer still holds," Mac finished for him.

"Yes," he replied softly.

The conversation had taken on a serious tone that was threatening to spoil their relaxing island getaway.

Harm used his palm to push water at Mac, which splashed her in the face, breaking the tension as she slapped the surface of the water, getting him wet.

The tension was broken as they splashed water at each other like children, laughing happily as they soaked each other.

Their juvenile behavior subsided, and soon they were swimming and once again enjoying the relaxed island pace of not having to go anywhere or do anything on anybody else's time frame.

"I'm getting hungry. How about you?" Mac asked.

"Not yet, but if we don't start back soon, it'll be dark and we'll be stranded here for the night," Harm replied as he started to make his way to the water's edge.

"We should get going then," Mac agreed, taking her time to get out of the water.

She was enjoying the view of his broad shoulders and muscular back as he made his way to the rock where they'd placed their clothes to keep them dry.

He turned around and, even with his wet chest hair clinging in small clumps to his skin, it didn't detract from the well-defined muscles of his chest and abs that made the view of his front as pleasing to the eye as his back.

**A WALK ON THE BEACH**

**AFTER DINNER**

They'd gotten back to West End before dark and, after showering and getting dressed, they'd met in the lobby and gone into town for dinner.

Back at the hotel after dinner, Harm said that he was going to go for a walk on the beach, and Mac, not wanting for their day together to come to an end, asked if he'd mind having some company.

"Not at all," he'd responded, reaching for her hand.

They walked on the beach hand-in-hand in silence for several minutes before Mac spoke.

"Harm..." she said to get his attention.

"Yeah," he acknowledged.

"We've always been so close. What happened to us in Paraguay? How did that mission come between us?"

They were questions that he'd asked himself at least a few hundred times.

"I've given that some thought and I think that the answer is that it wasn't the mission that came between us. _We_ came between us. For example, my inability to show my interest or perhaps my level of interest before you had one foot out the door may have started it. Then, seeing you with Webb ... I didn't handle that very well. I said things in the moment that I wish that I could take back now, but the damage has already been done."

"I didn't handle things in the best possible way then, either," Mac said, coming to a stop on the beach.

She bent over and, pulling her hand from his, she lifted a shell out of the sand.

"This one is for the things that I said or did that I wish that I could take back," she said before throwing this shell harder and farther than she had the others earlier today.

Harm plucked a shell from the sand.

Coming back to his full height, he said, "This is for the way that I handled things then and wish that I could go back and change."

Mac put her palm on his chest.

"How do we keep us from being torn apart that way again?" she asked.

Turning to face her, he said sincerely, "We don't make the same mistakes again."

He lifted his arm, his hand cupping her face.

She leaned into his touch.

He brushed his thumb over her cheek before his hand fell away from her face.

He leaned in, touching his lips to hers, to which she responded by pressing her lips against his.

It was a kiss much like one would expect on a first or second date, one full of promise and hope of things to come, but not passionate.

It's effect on Mac was that it made her body tingle all the way down to her toes.

"We should head back to the hotel," he said when their kiss came to a natural close.

He'd made the mistake of not telling her how he'd felt in the past, but he wasn't going to make an equally bad mistake by coming on too strong, too soon.

"Okay," she said, agreeing with him as she slipped her hand into his. They'd made a lot of progress tonight, so though she hated to see it end, she thought that it might be for the best.

They walked hand-in-hand to her room, where he kissed her on the cheek and told her good night.

**SUNDAY MORNING**

Mac woke up and stretched.

She checked her internal clock.

It was 1030.

Why hadn't Harm called her for breakfast?

Had he had second thoughts about kissing her last night?

Was he going to be avoiding her until they left tomorrow?

She got out of bed slowly as if the wind had been taken out of her sails.

Yesterday had been wonderful. It had left her with so much hope that she and Harm would make things work between them.

She moved towards the doors leading to the balcony to take in the view of the ocean and inhale the sea air, hoping that the sea would bring her the answer as to what to do about the sailor who she wanted in her life.

She stepped out and took a deep breath before looking down to the beach.

A man running on the beach in shorts with no shirt on caught her eye. She knew that man. She'd been staring at that bare chest for most of the day yesterday.

She dashed back into her room and put on her swimsuit.

Hoping not to miss him, she left her room, pulling on a cover-up as she made her way from her room to the beach.

"Hey," she said, coming up beside him.

"Hey, get a good night's sleep?" he asked as he slowed his pace so that she could jog along next to him and keep up.

"Yes, I did. You?" she asked, trying to remember to lift her feet instead of gawking at him.

"I didn't want to wake you this morning. Have you had breakfast?"

"No, you?" she asked in return, thinking that, given how he'd been last night, this conversation seemed a little stiff.

"No, I like to get my run out of the way, shower and then have breakfast. If you don't have any plans, would you like to join me?"

Her eyebrow shot up in surprise, and he caught it.

"Don't panic. I was talking about the breakfast part, not the shower part."

"Too bad, I was willing to join you for both," she said, taking off running before he could react.

He caught up to her quickly and reached for her arm.

"Really?" That was the only word that he could get out, but he made it sound like a question.

"Harm, I may not be ready for a baby yet, but that doesn't mean that I'm not ready to explore the possibility that we could have something special before we bring a child into this world."

He looked stunned, and Mac wondered if she'd spoken up too soon.

"If you aren't ready to date, I understand, but I thought that you should know that I'm ready when you are," she added nervously.

"I'm ready! I just wasn't sure that you were." He paused to regain his composure. He'd hoped for this day, but now that it was here, he was having a hard time believing that it was real.

The next thing he knew, her lips were on his.

He wrapped his arms around her and he pulled her to him, but the kiss was cut short when Mac's stomach growled.

Harm grinned as he brought the kiss to a close.

"I think my girlfriend needs some breakfast," he said with a chuckle as he released his hold on her before taking her hand.

Did he really just refer to her as 'his girlfriend'? she wondered as they walked towards the hotel.

"Did you want to do anything special today?" he asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

"No, why?"

"I was just wondering how I should dress after my shower. Should I be ready for shopping, sightseeing or an island hike? That's all."

"Shopping ... I like the sound of that," she said with a bright smile.

"I don't think that you'll find a shoe store here, Mac," he said teasingly.

She chuckled lightly before responding, "I wasn't thinking shoes. I was thinking that I'd get a little something for Chloe, or at least send her a postcard."

"I don't think that your stomach can wait, so how about, after I shower, we eat here at the hotel and then leave for town and shopping?" he suggested.

"I think that sounds like a plan," she agreed as they entered the hotel lobby.

**HOTEL LOBBY**

**RETURNING FROM TOWN**

Harm and Mac entered the lobby laughing.

They'd had a wonderful time scanning little shops for a unique gift for Chloe, though Mac hadn't found anything that she'd wanted to purchase for her. However, that didn't mean that they'd returned empty-handed.

Mac had bought a couple of new sun dresses similar to the one that she was wearing, and more as a shot at Harm, a new pair of sandals, though they were cute shoes.

Harm and Mac's laughter ended, and they came to a stop when they heard the elevated voice of a man at the check-in desk.

"You've got to have something ... a closet, laundry room ... a space in the lobby ... something." He sounded desperate, not angry.

"I'm sorry, Sir. We're fully booked," the hotel clerk told the young man with pleading eyes who was standing in front of him.

"Please!" Now he was begging.

Mac looked at Harm.

"I could give up my room and stay in yours," Mac said to Harm.

"No, keep your room. There are other hotels. I'm sure that they'll help him find some place to stay," Harm said, giving Mac the impression that he was resistant to sharing his room with her.

"Are you hiding a woman that I don't know about in your room, because, in case you've forgotten, we _have_ shared a room a few times before."

"We have, but before it was different. You weren't my girlfriend then."

"Oh, so you don't mind sharing a room with me, but you don't want to share it with your girlfriend?" Mac said, sounding as confused as she felt.

"It isn't my room. It's ... " Harm was a little flustered. How could he explain? "...the bed that's the problem."

"You don't want to sleep with me?" Mac whispered the question.

"It isn't that I don't want to. It's just that you've been my girlfriend for less than twelve hours. Don't you want to wait?" he whispered back.

A smile came over her face.

"I don't want to plan it. When the time is right, it doesn't matter to me where or when it happens...but if it'll make you uncomfortable, then I'll keep my room."

A young woman rushed through the lobby doors.

"Did they find us a room?" she asked as she made her way to the man who was stepping away from the counter in defeat.

He shook his head. "Did you have any luck reaching our travel agent?"

"Yes, but she was no help. She checked her computer and said that she saw the problem. Someone made an entry error when making our reservations. We're booked here for these dates a month from now."

"It's their mistake. What did she say that she's going to do about it?" the man asked. Now knowing who to blame, he was sounding a bit agitated.

"She's trying to contact the hotel to see if they can squeeze us in. If not, then she'll see about getting us in at another hotel."

"Did you tell her that this is the hotel were I asked you to marry me and this is where you wanted to get married? Another hotel just isn't acceptable."

The woman's phone rang.

"It's the travel agent," she said to him while pushing the button to connect her to the caller.

Harm and Mac could overhear her as she said, "Yes, I understand" and "That helps, but I don't know if it matters if we don't have a place to sleep." She closed her phone and turned to the man who was impatiently waiting to see if the situation had been rectified.

"She said that changing the date for our wedding at this hotel was no problem. She spoke to the manager and explained the situation, and he assured her that they'd do the best that they could to accommodate the change in date. However, they don't have any rooms left for tonight, but they can put us up here starting tomorrow night. She says that she'll make a few more calls to see if she can arrange something for tonight and call us back," she replied near tears at how wrong things were going, and they weren't even married yet.

Upon hearing that he'd proposed here and that they were here to be married, Mac was determined to help them, but how was she going to get Harm to agree to allow her to share his room?

He saw the look in her eyes, the one that said that she wanted to help this young couple in love.

"Mac, are you sure that you're okay with sharing a room with me so soon after we decided to date?"

"I'm sure. In fact, I think it could be fun," she said with a smile equal to the one she'd had this morning when she'd said that she would've joined him in the shower.

"Then, do you want the honor or do you want me to tell them the news?" Harm asked.

Mac was beaming as she started towards the couple with Harm following her.

"Excuse me. We overheard you talking and we can help. We have two rooms, but we can make do with one. So, if you'll give us a few minutes to get my things out, you can have my room," Mac told the couple, Harm standing at her side.

"Thank you, but we don't want to ruin your vacation, too," the man said.

"You couldn't ruin our island getaway if you tried. Please take the room for the night," Mac told them.

"Consider it a wedding present," Harm added.

The euphoric smiles on Harm and Mac's faces told the other couple that they were sincere.

"Thank you. Thank you very much," the man said, extending his hand to shake Harm's.

**HARM'S ROOM **

**AFTER DINNER**

Harm opened the door to his room and allowed Mac to enter first.

"It was nice of that couple to pay for our dinner tonight, especially since they wouldn't accept the room as a gift and are paying for it, too," Harm stated as he entered the room behind her.

"It was very nice of them, but I think that they just wanted to be sure that we knew how grateful they were to us for giving up my room."

The heavy door closed behind him.

"The hotel is throwing a party on the beach tonight. Do you want to go?" Harm asked hopefully.

"Though I saw that there was a limbo contest and I'd like to see how low you can go..." she said with intentional innuendo in her voice. "...I don't think that I want to spend our last night on the island around a bunch of people."

The innuendo and purr in her voice had him squirming a little. He knew that, if they stayed in the room for the rest of the night, there was the possibility that they'd end up in bed together, something for which he wasn't sure that their relationship was ready.

"We could do something else. If we went down to the beach now, we could take a leisurely stroll before the party-goers show up," he suggested.

Mac sensed that he wanted to do anything, go anywhere. He just didn't want to be in the room alone with her.

"You've had a girlfriend before. You've been with a woman before. Why are you being this way?" Mac asked, truly puzzled by his behavior. It reminded her of Sydney Harbor.

"Why are you this way with only me?" She asked the question that had plagued her for years.

"Because... " Harm stepped in front of her. He knew the answer, but this was all happening so fast, and he wasn't sure that it was the right time to tell her, but he couldn't hold back and leave her to wonder about his feelings again.

He put his hands on her hips and looked into her eyes.

"I'm this way with you because I've never felt about anyone else the way that I feel about you." He paused for a heartbeat before declaring, "I love you, Mac." Then his lips claimed hers in a kiss filled with the passion that he'd been holding in for so long.

She hadn't expected him to make a declaration of love, but now that he had, she wasn't going to let him go...ever.

When their kiss came to a natural close, Mac looked into his eyes, which were dark with desire, and responded with, "I love you, too," before claiming his lips.

Having had years to get to know each other and having exchanged 'I love you,' it seemed like the right time and place to show their love to each other, and Mac started to push up his shirt so that she could rid him of it and be able to run her hands over the muscles of his chest that, up until now, she'd been able only to look at.

Alone in his room, they spent the rest of their island getaway loving each other the way that each had only fantasized about before today.

They left the island the next afternoon tanned, in love and happily looking forward to a future together.

**THE END **


End file.
